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Works in Progress: a Challenge-Inspired Undergraduate Experience
Conference proceeding   Open access

Works in Progress: a Challenge-Inspired Undergraduate Experience

Rohit Bhargava, Marcia Pool, Andrew Smith, P Carney and Dipanjan Pan
Association for Engineering Education - Engineering Library Division Papers, p26.1774.1
14 Jun 2015
DOI: https://doi.org/10.18260/p.25110
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https://doi.org/10.18260/p.25110View
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Abstract

Cancer Core curriculum Curricula Engineering Engineering education Learning Medical research Principles Public policy Recall Retrieval Science education Students Training
Works in Progress: With Focus, Flipping the Undergraduate ExperienceImproving the undergraduate experience while increasing the number of Science, Technology,Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) trained professionals is a recurring goal. Many studentschoose engineering to “change the world” and become disillusioned or lose interest [1] whenfaced with learning foundational concepts which are presented without connecting the use ofconcepts to real world problems. Therefore, to retain and further develop students, there is a needto connect student learning to engineering practice. We propose to create this connection byinterweaving a real world problem throughout multiple courses in the curriculum. Interweavingthe problem throughout the curriculum will expose students to the same problem multiple timesand require them to recall information about the problem as they investigate the problem fromanother perspective (engineering concept). As recall has been shown to increase long termlearning [2], we anticipate students will gain a deeper understanding of the problem while alsolearning how to apply multiple engineering concepts to solve a real world problem.To investigate this idea, we flipped the curriculum while focusing learning on a real worldproblem: cancer. Traditionally (Figure 1), students learn engineering skills in isolatedcoursework without a connection to other courses or to real world problems facilitating loss ofinterest. However, we anticipate a community of students focused on a grand challenge whileprogressing through the curriculum will develop interest in engineering through learning how toapply foundational principles to the problem. In the flipped model (Figure 1), students progressthrough the curriculum while also learning about the applications of concepts in courses tosolving the real world problem. By doing this, we connect students to their end goal (solvingreal world problems) at the beginning of their undergraduate education and seek to increaseenthusiasm by engaging students in training opportunities [3] focused around the real worldproblem.In fall 2014, we enrolled twelve, high achieving freshmen students (average ACT = 33.8). Ofthese twelve students, five are female, four are first generation students, and one is anunderrepresented minority student. In fall 2014, students participated in a frontiers course whereTed-style talks on cancer research were delivered, followed by facilitated discussion. In teams,students developed informational videos on a cancer related topic. Beginning in spring 2015,students will join a research laboratory and begin a project; research will be continuedthroughout the undergraduate career. In sophomore year, students will participate in a healthcareinnovations course and be introduced to public policy. Junior and senior year will be focused ondesign projects on cancer topics. Summer experiences include research, clinical immersions,and/or internships. Through this flipped curriculum, we introduce students to engineeringpractice early, require students to retain and apply knowledge, and facilitate development ofconnections between engineering principles. Figure 1. Traditionally, students progress through a curriculum without connecting concepts to practice. We are investigating a focused effort to connect education and training at multiple levels to a real world problem: cancer.References:[1] E. Litzler and J. Young, “Understanding the Risk of Attrition in Undergraduate Engineering: Results from the Project to Assess Climate in Engineering,” Journal of Engineering Education, vol. 101, issue 2, pp. 319-345, April 2012.[2] J. D. Karpicke, "Retrieval-based learning: active retrieval promotes meaningful learning," Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 21, pp. 157-163, 2012.[3] E. Seymour et al., “Establishing the Benefits of Research Experiences for Undergraduates in the Sciences: First Findings from a Three-Year Study,” Science Education, vol. 88, issue 4, 493–534, April 2004

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